The Dark one Rises
by Tsukune-sama
Summary: What happens if something happens in Naruto's childhood to change his entire outlook on life? Will he ever be the same knucklehead ninja as before? Or will he become something better entirely? Indifferent/ semi dark Naruto at times
1. The day the world stopped

**First warning, this will probably not be canon in almost any sense. I'm not even sure where to begin with this honestly, I was thinking about making a dark Narutoa fanfic, where instead of succeeding against his darkness as a kid. He soon gives into the darkness. I normally try and keep the fanfictions I write as light but still action packed as possible. Though this will be a good test of my skills as a writer. Fair warning though, this will be a darker/ indifferent/strong Naruto fanfic, so if you don't like those type of fanfics, please leave. He may or may not hate the leaf village, that is left up to my discretion as I reach that bridge.**

Naruto sits in the orphanage bed that is designated as his, it is in shambles, his pillow is nothing more than a part of his blanket torn off and rolled into a pillow like shape. ' **Why me..?!** ' He thinks with a pained expression to himself, as it is his birthday again, but as a kid, he should be happy it's his birthday. Celebrating with the rest of the orphanage. This happened for as long as he could remember, he didn't care that no one really celebrated his birthday with him, but to completely ignore him was getting to him this year.

This was not the case for Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, he was an orphan, and unknowingly the container of the Kyuubi No Kitsune, or 9 tailed fox. Since it was his birthday, the other patrons of the orphanage had told the other children to avoid contact at all costs. While the head matron, who had inherited the orphanage from her recently passed mother had tried to encourage them to talk to the boy.

The head matron of the orphanage came in with a tray of food, avoiding looking at the boy, but couldn't help but notice his normally rather upbeat attitude was nonexistent today. She was on of the few that were at least indifferent to the boy. "Naruto?" She called out gently.

Naruto looked up, and saw one of the people who had not tried to hurt him, and gave a faint smile to her. "Hi okaa-san. Happy birthday to me right?" Naruto asked with a tired, and defeated tone to his voice.

This shocked the woman to her core, she had always seen him so upbeat, and happy to be alive even when life tried to force his face into the dirt. "Yeah it is your birthday isn't it? How about I go make you some of your favorite ramen instead of this?" She asked with a kind smile on her face.

Naruto's eyes widened at this, and a genuinely happy grin was plastered on his face. "Really!? Can we go to Ichiraku's!? I haven't seen my nee-chan in a while! I bet she will be happy to see me!" Naruto exclaimed, hopping up from his bed, and getting dressed in normal civilian clothes.

The woman's breath hitched a bit, and she thought for a few moments, she remembered it was the day of the 'Kyuubi festival' as well for the villagers. Really all it was an excuse to look for Naruto, and try to beat him within an inch of his life. None had been successful as of yet, because of his anbu detail given to him by the third Hokage. "Sure, I don't see why we can't do that." She said with a soft smile, thinking that they wouldn't dare attack him in the company of someone as respected as her around the village.

Naruto walked up to her, and wrapped his arms around her, giving her the biggest hug he could possibly give. This was the best birthday present that anyone had given him, albeit it was the only birthday present that anyone had given him. "Thank you kaa-san, you're the best." he said softly, causing the young womans heart to melt at the heart warming sight before her.

She smiled softly, walking over to the dresser, careful to hide the kunai she had tucked into pocket just in case from the elated blonde in her care. "Let's get going shall we? We want to get there and eat as much ramen as possible right?" She asked lightly, taking Naruto's hand in hers, and started walking for the door. The real reason she wanted to get in and out as fast as possible is so that she could avoid the drunken mob later.

Naruto nodded, giving her hand a soft squeeze, he could feel the tense aura around his duly appointed mother figure, but couldn't quite put his finger on why. So he shrugged it off, along with the feelings from earlier which steadily tried to drag down his good mood.

 **A little bit later, outside of the Ichiraku ramen stand...**

Ayame came up to the counter, and an ear to ear grin was now on her face. "How is my little bro today? The usual?" She said with a cheery tone, she was genuinely happy to see him, the little blonde always seemed to be able to brighten her day, no matter how long it had been.

Naruto smiled back, looking slightly annoyed as Ayame reached over the counter, and ruffled his hair. "I'm good, what about you nee-chan?" Naruto asked, his trademark grin never leaving his face, it widened even further if that was possible as the bowl of steaming hot ramen came up to him courtesy of Teuchi.

"Well if it isn't the #1 knucklehead customer of mine." He said with a smile gracing his elderly looks.

Ayame whacked him upside the back of the head with her open palm. "Hey! He is one of our best customers, and my little adopted bro! Don't call him that! Anyway I have been good Naruto, working hard as usual though..." She trailed lightly to no one in particular, but regained her light grin soon after.

The matron smiled softly at the exchange before her, then a shiver went down her spine as she felt someone glaring needles into the back of her and Naruto's head. The latter seemingly completely oblivious to said man's actions. "I'll be right back, I saw a friend I haven't talked to in a while." She said with as cheery of a tone as possible to not alert the exuberant blonde as to what was happening.

Ayame recognized the man who constantly harassed them for even thinking of selling or associating with the 'Kyuubi incarnate' or so he said. ' **That bastard had to come by today... Well at least she seems to be able to handle the situation, I've already dented enough pans on his head too.** ' She thought with a chuckle at the memory of chasing him off with a frying pan down the streets of Konoha.

Once the two had gotten out of eyesight and earshot of the restaurant, she slammed the man into a nearby wall, holding the blade to his throat, drawing a bit of blood. "Look you sleazy little bastard! If you or any of your friends interrupt my Naruto-kun's birthday, I will end you then and there!" She exclaimed through clenched teeth, being an ex kunoichi, she had killed before, and would if the need ever arose.

The man's breath hitched a bit as the blade broke the skin, he knew he could easily overpower the athletic woman, but could he before the blade slit his throat? He wasn't taking that chance. "O-Ok! I'll leave you guys alone!" He exclaimed in fear for his life, holding his arms out to the side in surrender.

Her eyes closed for a moment or two as she let out a slow breath to compose herself, letting the village idiot go. "If I catch even a single whiff of you near us again..." She dragged out the words to make her point as the point of her kunai came dangerously close to his family jewels. "We may have another kunoichi in this village." She said with an evil grin, giving his cheek a light smack before sending him on his way.

As he walked away he was silently plotting how he was going to get revenge on the bitch who had threatened him, and the 'demon' that was in her care.

 **Back at the ramen shop...**

Ayame was keeping Naruto distracted as they waited for his caretaker to return. "So, do you plan on being a ninja when you're old enough?" She asked curiously, leaning against the counter, intently listening to the blonde's answer.

Naruto slurped up his ramen, using his sleeve to clean off the broth from his chin. "You bet! I'm going to get strong in order to protect you and all the villagers Ayame-nee-chan!"

The last statement caught her by a bit of a surprise, which was a given considering how a lot of the villagers had treated Naruto as if he didn't exist, or with hate. "Oh really now? How do you plan on that? You can't even beat me at doing the dishes." She said with a smirk, knowing his competitive nature would get the better of him when issued a challenge that he thought he could win at.

Teuchi facepalmed lightly at his daughter, yes it had gotten the boy fired up about a competition, but it was partly because she didn't want to do all the dishes. "Alright, alright... I shall be the judge of this competition, Naruto come on in." He said lightly, lifting the divider of the bar up, and opening the door to let him in.

Naruto hopped to his feet, and followed the retreating Ayame to the area where they kept the dirty dishes after a customer used them. "Oh yeah!? Well I shall beat you at this, and you will give me one present that I get to choose!" Naruto exclaimed lightly, setting his terms for this competition. He realized he was going to be doing the dishes, but a little chore to have fun with his nee-chan? The pro's outweighed the cons in this case.

The matron ruffled his hair a little as she followed them into the back, she trusted the ramen vendors, but she wanted to see this competition unfold.

"Don't overwork yourself ok?"

Naruto turned around and flashed her a bright grin. "It's ok Shina-kaa-san, that just means I will sleep a lot better tonight right?" Shina couldn't fault the 10 year olds logic, he was right.

Teuchi and Ayame nodded, smiling softly at their little friends logic. "Alright, but if I win, you must visit me and help me with the dishes until I say otherwise ok?" She asked, causing Naruto to face fault at the prospect of having to be made to do dishes every day for free, though he could sense an ulterior motive.

She had really just set her conditions down so she could see the little blonde more often, so he was sort of fine with the terms, and they shook hands on it. "It's official, I am going to win!" Naruto exclaimed lightly, proclaiming his motivation to win towards his self proclaimed small family.

Ayame gained a smirk on her face, and ruffled his hair a bit more. "Oh yeah gaki? We'll just see about that!" She said, diving into her part of the sink, and started doing dishes as quickly, but safely as possible.

Naruto's face dropped as he saw her get the jump on him, and rushed up to the counter as well, rapidly cleaning dishes, and drying them off. Tossing them back, causing a frantic Teuchi to start doing yoga poses in an attempt to catch all the finished dishes. ' **Sorry jiji, but I gotta win! I really want what I asked!** ' He thought to himself, everything he did was calculated, and efficient, trying to waste as little time in cleaning the dishes as possible.

Shina chuckled softly at the antics of what was happening after coming back from closing the shop temporarily. "When he is determined to get something or win, watch out, cause you'll probably lose." She said lightly, but wasn't heard over the bustling, and frantic dish pit area as dishes flew as Ayame joined his cheap moves.

 **About thirty minutes later...**

The entire kitchen and dish pit sparkled pristine clean, after they finished the dishes, it had ended in a draw, so they had gone to competing who could organize the cabinets the fastest. That was also a draw, so they just went all out on everything they could find. Finally ending in Naruto being declared the winner as Ayame landed on her butt, too tired to go on any further.

"Yata! I won!" He exclaimed lightly, celebrating his victory, but a shiver went down his spine as he felt an irate Teuchi behind him.

"Naruto..."

*KLONK!*

"Ite... Ite... Ite... I'm sorry for throwing your dishes jiji! Though I had to win! I knew you'd catch them cause you're awesome!" Naruto exclaimed lightly, causing the irate Teuchi to calm down rather quickly.

" **This kid is smart... I like him...** "

Naruto looked around at this, confusion apparent on his face. "Where is that voice coming from?" He asked, cocking his head to the side curiously, trying to find anyone hidden in the room aside from his anbu detail.

Ayame's eyebrows furrowed lightly at this, she understood where the proclaimed voice may have come from, but she was hoping she was wrong. She didn't want that damned demon having any kind of influence over Naruto. "What did the voice say Naruto?" She asked a bit concerned for Naruto.

The room became silent all eyes went to Naruto. "Well it said "This kid is smart... I like him..." then it just went silent, though I can't find anyone that could make a voice like that. It was hoarse, and heavy, like it had a lot of power behind it..." Naruto mused softly, causing everyone, including the veteran anbu hidden in the room to break into a cold sweat as their fears were confirmed, it was the Kyuubi that was speaking with him.

Shina took a breath to calm herself before speaking again. "Naruto, there is something I have to tell you later, but for now, tell us what you want as your reward, neh?" She said softly, cocking her head to the side.

Ayame and Teuchi both became quiet and started listening intently into what he was going to say.

Naruto thought for a moment or two, he had nearly forgotten about what he wanted if he won, but remembered it soon. "I want you guys to adopt me." He said bluntly, seeing the shocked expressions, his slightly self destructive personality kicked in and he started apologizing. "If you guys don't want to... It's fine, it's just I hear orphans get kicked out at the age of 13 or 14..." Naruto trailed sadly.

It took a moment before what Naruto had just said fully sunk into Ayame's head, when it did, she got upset with Naruto.

 **KLONK**!

"Baka! Why wouldn't we adopt you!? We're going to the Hokage right now to have the papers finished!" She exclaimed lightly, a tick mark on her brow. She picked up the small eight year old, and threw him over her shoulder, taking off towards the Hokage tower, Hiruzen dreading something he didn't know about yet.

 **A few minutes later...**

Teuchi, Naruto, Shina, and Ayame were standing in front of the Hokage, after barging in on a meeting about the blonde that they were there for, but it stopped as soon as the door was opened. "Hokage-sama... I know how you've curbed us in the past about adopting Naruto, but no is not an option this time." Ayame stated simply, stepping up to the desk of the arguably strongest man in their village.

Hiruzen sighed a bit at this, then reached into a drawer in his desk, pulling out a bottle of sake, ignoring the dish, and took a swig directly from the bottle. "Ayame..." He trailed, flinching almost invisibly as Ayame's fist slammed into the front of his desk, causing it to crack more than expected of a civilian.

Ayame's eyes narrowed dangerously, ki leaking off of her in waves towards the man in front of her.

Hiruzen gulped a bit, hell hath no fury like a pissed woman. "Let me finish... I figured that it was about time for your monthly visit, so I've finally decided to let you adopt Naruto..." He trailed a bit as he took another swig from the bottle, letting a breath that he didn't realize he was holding go. "The reason I didn't let you adopt him before is because I didn't think you could keep him safe until he could join the academy. Though as long as I keep my security detail on him, it shouldn't be a problem right?" He asked simply, everyone nodded.

Naruto's grin was as wide as the cheshire cat's right now, not only had he one upped his onee-chan, but he was also going to get to live with her. "Thank you JiJi!" He said, bolting over to the man in question, giving him a big hug, and with a chuckle, Hiruzen happily returned the hug.

Teuchi smiled at this, he hadn't been able to get a word in, but he wouldn't have rebuttled his daughter, as he wanted to adopt Naruto. "Welcome to the family Naruto Teuchi-Uzumaki." He said with a wide smile.

Everyone gained a light smile on their face, but Shina was slightly sad at this. ' **I'm happy to see him get a family, but that means I won't be able to see him that often.**..' She thought to herself, but cheered up soon after, because this was a great day for Naruto, it was a wonderful day in general for them all.

 **Leaving the Hokage tower after signing the adoption papers...**

"Yata! I get to eat Ayame-chan's delicious ramen every day!" Naruto excitedly exclaimed, only for his hopes to be dashed about his everyday ramen binge by the person in question.

"I hate to break it to you, but you will be eating healthy or there will never be ramen again for you, got it?" She asked, gaining a more adult like tone, even though she herself was only 15.

Shina giggled lightly at his slightly downtrodden expression, but whispered something in his ear. ' **Hey, don't listen to her, I'll make you some ramen if you come by every now and then.** ' She whispered with a smile.

Naruto instantly became happy again, grabbing Ayame's hand as they walked, the sun started going down, so they went down an alleyway to get home faster. As they reached the middle of the alleyway, a mob started to cover the exists. "Nee-chan... What's this?" Naruto asked, hiding behind Teuchi, whose eyes narrowed, drawing a knife that he always kept hidden on him for situations similar to this..

Shina's eyes narrowed and she stepped forward as well as she saw the man she threatened earlier. "What are you doing here? I thought I warned you already you idiot..." She almost growled out at the man who stood smugly at the front of the growing more irate by the moment mob.

"Well you see, that thing you have hiding over there... Needs to die, so if you step aside we might let you live..." He cockily said, with a smug look on his face, confident in his numbers would be able to subdue a retired nin. "If not... Well I cannot say what the rest of the mob may do to you." As he said this, a few of the creeper men in the crowd let out cat calls, and wolf whistles towards the females of Naruto's group.

Teuchi got into a defensive stance, but before he could take any action, with a quick flick of the wrist, a kunai was sent sailing with deadly accuracy and speed, piercing the man right between the eyes. "Naruto, Ayame, hide somewhere until we say the coast is clear..." Teuchi said, his voice hardening like steel.

Ayame, and Naruto did as commanded, finding a place where they would be safe for the moment.

Shina disappeared in a blur of speed, recovering the kunai from the man's forehead then jumped back a few feet from the crowd. "I wished I didn't have to take another life, but it seems I will have to teach you little civilians what an ex shinobi is capable of... Leave now, and never bother Naruto again, you shall be spared... If not, well... As he so eloquently put, I cannot guarantee your safety..." She trailed coldly, letting ki leak out.

At this, a 1/3 hadn't expected any resistance, split and ran as fast as they could from either side, dwindling the crowds numbers rather significantly. "She killed him! We have to kill her too!" At this, seals that were left in various strategic places in the alleyway to absorb sound, and ki were activated by the few nin in the crowd.

"Too bad..."

Shina disappeared in a blur of speed, appearing in the middle of the crowd, before some of the civilians could realize what happened, three of them were dispatched with haste. "You're out of your league..." She said coldly, blocking a few strikes of fists and kicks that came from the nearby civilians.

"Gotcha!"

A ninja from above called as he jumped above her and went for a downward strike with his wakizashi, but his eyes widened as her Kunai was lodged in his chest, a precise hit right to his heart. Causing him to hit the ground with a sickening thud as the life left his eyes.

A few more of the crowds flight instincts kicked in and ran away from the ex ninja, the rest of the crowd's fight instincts kicked in, taking swings at her.

She dodged with practiced grace, flipping into a back handspring, kicking two would be assailants down to the ground, she grabbed the wakizashi as she sprung backwards, quickly dispatching the two. "It's been awhile since I've had this much fun, so thank you." She said, flying through hand seals. " **Doton**! **Doryūheki!** " She exclaimed, slamming her hands into the ground. As she did, a wall of solid stone came out of the ground at either ends of the alleyway in front of the civilians, curving out enough to prevent climbing by normal means.

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt the earth shake a bit as the jutsu finished, protecting them from the rest of the civilians, who began banging on the wall. ' **Wow... My Kaa-san is amazing!** ' He thought to himself as his eyes widened more if that was possible as the two remaining nin jumped over the top of the wall.

Teuchi snuck up on one that glared at Shina, waiting for her guard to drop even a little to pounce, as Teuchi pounced, the ninja let loose a kunai, right into Shina's achilles tendon. ' **Damn it..! I wasn't fast enough!** ' Teuchi thought frantically to himself as he dug his knife further into the in questions ninja's back.

The other ninja saw the perfect opportunity as Shina dropped to her knee, rushing her, slashing her across her solar plexus. "You should have just left... I hate to do this to a worthy foe..." He trailed, aiming his sword downwards towards her chest as Shina layed on her back, breathing haggard, but a smile on her face.

"Well you won't survive long after the Hokage finds out what you tried to do..." She trailed, and a godly amount of ki came from the direction of the Hokage tower, causing Shina to chuckle a bit, then cough up a bit of blood. "Seems he's enroute now... So I win either way..." She said with a cocky smirk, this pissed the nin off.

As he tried to drive his sword into her chest, right before he succeeded, an ancient, and malevolent youkai laced chakra slammed him against the wall. "What the hell!? It has to be that demon brat!"

The blonde in question was on all fours, as a deep red chakra leaked out of every pore of his body, surrounding him, becoming more feral as moments passed. "Die!" Is all he exclaimed, the ki absorbing seals that were in place were barely able to contain the malevolent ki coming off Naruto. He disappeared in a blur of speed, surprising the nin, who's eyes widened as Naruto appeared in front of him.

"A civilian should not be capable of thos-!" Is all he got out as he a clawed hand was now jutting out of his chest, right where his heart was. Naruto had remembered were his kaa-san had struck earlier, ending the man much faster than he had ever deserved, but now wasn't the time for hesitation.

Naruto's cloak receded as he felt he was no longer in danger. "Kaa-san!" He called out, his own breath now a bit ragged from not being used to such high speeds or using the Kyuubi's chakra. Though with all the speed he could muster, bolted over to his downed mother figure. "Please hang in there Kaa-san! JiJi is coming, and he can fix you right up!" He exclaimed, dropping to his knees next to the profusely bleeding woman.

A sad smile came across her face as she raised a weak, and shaking hand towards Naruto's cheek, stroking it softly with the back of her hand. "Please don't be sad, I had to protect the one I cared about, so if I die from this, at least I will know you're safe..." Shina trailed a bit, from as light headed as she was, she could tell she didn't have long, but she pulled Naruto closely anyway, soaking his black shirt with her blood.

Naruto didn't care his favorite shirt was being dirtied, he hugged her gently, sobbing into her shoulder. "Please don't leave me Kaa-san..! I need you!" He exclaimed, pounding the ground with the side of his fist once.

Shina chuckled a bit wistfully at this, and kissed his cheek with what little strength she had left. "No Naruto, see it is I who needed you, after my mother's passing, I didn't think I could care about anyone else like the way I care for you... You showed me I was wrong, and I am glad I got to take care of you..." She said softly. "Just promise me one thing Naruto... You will become a strong man, who will protect all that he can..."

Naruto pulled back, his eyes steeling in determination as he sniffled a bit, wiping away the tears that continued to fall no matter what he did. "I promise Kaa-san..." he hated to admit it, but he knew that Hiruzen wasn't going to make it in time with as fast as his kaa-san was fading, he hated not being able to do anything about it.

One last smile graced her lips as the words left her mouth. "I love you my son..." As the words left, her hand dropped from his cheek, falling limply to the ground as the last breath she would take left her mortal frame.

Teuchi's heart broke at the site of Naruto's only mother figure passing, he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, showing Naruto that he was still here for him as Ayame did the same on the other shoulder. "She was a great woman Naruto... I just hate it had to come to this... Damn narrow minded villagers." He spat out, glaring at the fallen corpse of a villager that layed nearby, mangled and marred from Shina's attacks.

Ayame crouched down, pulling Naruto into a caring hug, saying nothing as he wailed his heart out, they were slightly thankful that the seals were still running, it may have attracted unwanted attention.

A few moments later Hiruzen and his security detail appeared on the scene, Hiruzen's adamantine staff drawn, ready to end someone who would dare harm his grandson. "Damn it... I was too late... Crow!" He called out, his voice intoned with power and respect many nin sought after.

A moment later a man appeared with a crow shaped anbu mask, the man who was supposed to be part of Naruto's detail squad. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama... It happened so fa-..." Is all the man could get out as Hiruzen's hand was around his throat, hoisting him up into the air.

"That is a lie, you helped plan this... I can tell when I'm being lied to..." He said coldly, crushing the man's throat with a quick squeeze of his hand, dropping his soon lifeless body to the ground. "Inu... Round up the remaining civilians right outside the perimeter, take them to ibiki, and have their memories wiped of tonight's events and any mention of the kyuubi killing their loved ones..." Hiruzen trailed sadly, his expression softening as he looked upon the sad scene of his adopted grandson cradling the one he called his mother.

A man with silver gravity defying hair in the shadows nodded, disappearing in a blur of speed, and the crowd that was around them soon became quiet.

Hiruzen then let out a sigh of relief as he felt the danger had passed for the time being, he looked down to his grandson who was clutching Shina's body close to his chest. Silently sobbing as he rocked back and forth, silently vowing one day he would be strong enough to protect anyone and everyone. "Naruto... I know my words may not mean much to you right now... But I know she loved you dearly, even when all the other caretakers at the orphanage were begging her to kick you out, or they leave. She kept you, and just hired new people." Hiruzen said with a half hearted chuckle, the joke seemed to have no effect on the current Naruto.

Naruto looked up with his thanks apparent in his eyes. "I know JiJi, I pay attention to more than everyone gives me credit for." Naruto said, his voice monotone, but if you payed close enough attention you could hear a hint of sarcasm gracing his tone, "As a wise man once said, if you can't even make a joke, you already have one foot in the grave." or so the saying goes.

Hiruzen gave a soft smile at this, and patted Naruto on his shoulder. "Hey, I know you love all things ninja, and ninja related, how about I let you into the academy a year early?" He asked with a grin.

Naruto's eyes flickered with some emotion as he turned back to his grandfather figure. "Really? You think I'm ready?" Naruto asked, insecurity lacing his tone, but he knew he had to get stronger, this was a good way. He looked down at Shina, whose lifeless head was on his lap right now, with a serene smile on her face.

Hiruzen ruffled his hair, then went to pick up Shina, only to be stopped by Naruto.

"Let me Carry her Hiruzen, she was my Kaa-san after all." He said with a faint smile, standing up, carrying her in the bridal carry style, grunting a bit, because his small frame wasn't used to such a load, but he adjusted.

Hiruzen nodded "We will have a funeral later today, as contrary to what the weather says, it's still a young day." He said with a light smile, trying to lighten the air, but to no avail.

Naruto silently thanked Hiruzen for trying to keep things as normal as possible given the circumstances, given who he was, the last thing he wanted was to be patronized by constant condolences from people who don't care or only half care. Hiruzen was different though, even without him having to say it, Naruto was absolutely sure that he was mourning with Naruto, and that's what he wanted. As they left the alleyway, Hiruzen covered the alleyway with a genjutsu, it was a rarely traveled alleyway but better than letting the village stick this to Naruto. Later an anbu cleaner team would return the area back to it's original state.

 **Later that day...**

Naruto stood at the edge his mother figures casket as they slowly lowered her into the ground, his eyes hardened as he was deep in thought as he let go of the last rose onto her casket. Silently fairing her well in the next world. ' **This isn't goodbye... Just see you later...** ' He thought solemnly to himself as his mood fell. The turnout to his mother's funeral had been surprisingly large, all ill conceived past transgressions that the villagers thought Naruto had done, had been forgiven in the time of grieving.

They knew the two were close

 **Yes... Give into the darkness... Accept it as a normality in your world...**

Naruto's eyes narrowed for a moment as they glazed over, allowing himself to be pulled into his mindscape by the dark entity taunting him. Everyone didn't think anything of him spacing out, and not answering condolences as deep in the grieving process, slowly filing out of the cemetery themselves. "Who are you?" Naruto asked out loud into the dark room as he couldn't even see two feet in front of him.

 **Who am I? Hmm... Who do you think I am?**

Naruto pondered this question for a moment of two, and his jaw clenched as he realized that there was only two possibilities, and given the lack of seals that he had seen. It couldn't be the first one he had thought it had been. "You're me, moreover you're the emotions I sealed up personified I gather."

 **Ha ha ha... You're quite the attentive one, you're correct... I am you, but better... I am all you ever could hope to be, all powerful, isn't that what you want?**

Naruto's eyes narrowed as a form became clear in front of him, it was him, only at the same time it wasn't. This Naruto had black hair, and blood red iris', he was also ferrall, his fangs elongated, hair down to the middle of his back, his claws were well kept though, just sharpened tips on his fingers. "Yes I want power, but not if that means I have to sell my soul to the devil to get it..." He said coldly, gritting his teeth a bit.

 **Ha ha ha... You think you have a choice in this? I'm part of you, as much as you fight me, you will never beat me, because you cannot defeat yourself!**

Naruto sighed and his gaze relaxed a bit "Well if I can't beat you, that won't matter, as long as I can keep you locked away." Naruto stated with finality, yellow Uzumaki chains launching out of his back towards the Yami Naruto, wrapping around him, dragging him closer to the original.

 **As I got out last time, I will be back...**

Naruto took in a deep breath, calming himself "And I will be ready..." Naruto simply said as an evil laugh remained for a few more seconds in the air as the Yami Naruto was sealed into Naruto's right shoulder. Where he was sealed formed a symbol like a mix of the uzumaki whirlpool crest, and Shisui Uchiha's mangekyou. It was about the size of a bit bigger than a golf ball, but it wouldn't be seen except when he was shirtless.

 **Back in the normal world**

Naruto sighed, he had ended up laying on the cold ground somehow, but his head was comfortable. ' **Why is my head comfortable, but the rest of me sore from the cold, unforgiving ground?** ' Naruto thought to himself, as he opened one eye, he looked up to see what he thought was an angel.

"Tenshi?"

The woman in question blushed a bit but smiled a bit, adding more to Naruto's conclusion she was an angel as the air shined through her hair, giving the famed 'golden hair halo.' "Close, but you're very much alive, I'll take that as payment for you using my lap as a pillow. I was wondering if you were going to wake up." She said softly, slightly disappointed when Naruto got up, she liked running her hand through his hair.

Naruto smiled softly, then rolled his shoulders and neck, getting the stiffness out of it. "Well thank you for that, I'm Uzumaki-Ichiraku Naruto, and you are?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

The woman gave a light smile to Naruto before standing up and dusting her skirt off. "I am Haruno Sakura, nice to meet you Naruto-kun." She said softly, causing Naruto to blush faintly at her using 'kun' with his name before she looked up at the sky as it was darkening. "It's getting late, meet me at the Konoha park tomorrow?" She asked curiously, and Naruto nodded, his smile getting a bit bigger.

"It's a deal, see you then!" Naruto exclaimed lightly, letting his enthusiasm get the better of him for a moment. Sakura giggled a bit more at this, and walked off in the direction to head home.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, and looked up at the sky.

' **Hey Kaa-san, look over me for a bit more will ya?** '

As his question seemingly went unanswered he headed home, the heavens smiled upon him.

 _ **Well, what do you guys think of the first chapter? Yeah it was a bit sad, but I tried to add a bit of happiness to counter all the darkness that is the setup for this fanfiction. Anyway did you expect who the dark entity was? Foreshadowing is also fun as an author, well also I may pair him with Sakura, cause my original fanfiction with them two kinda tanked after I let the idea turn into a harem. So I am going to give it another try with them, though nothing is 100% yet.**_


	2. Time for a Change

Here's another chapter for one of my favorite series, it is one of the more challenging series that I've written. So I like writing it, though I'm not going to lie, I hadn't had any idea's to write it about... Though I'm back with some more idea's, so please review and enjoy!

 ** _\- Time for a Change -_**

Naruto yawned lightly as he sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he looked at his alarm clock. He had woke up a few minutes before his alarm clock had went off, so her turned it off so it wouldn't annoy him. ' **Time for my first day at the academy it seems...** ' Naruto stretched a bit as stoic expression crossed over his face as he remembered the events of last night that happened as they saddened him that his adopted mom had died.

Ayame looked up the stairwell leading to the house that was above their restaurant where Naruto had moved in last night after the funeral. "Naruto! Come down for breakfast before your first day at the academy!" She exclaimed lightly, heading back into the kitchen as she cooked breakfast for Naruto, Teuchi, and herself as she usually did but making a little extra this time.

Naruto's eyes widened a bit as he remembered that yesterday JiJi finally let Ayame, and Teuchi adopt him. So he rushed downstairs with a small smile on his face, he just didn't have the energy that he usually did to smile like normal. "It smells good Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto commented as he hopped up onto the chair sitting in front of their little dining room table.

Ayame noticed that he wasn't nowhere near as cheerful as he was the day before but given what happened yesterday. She couldn't exactly blame the little boy before her as he had lost the woman who he accepted as his his adopted mother had died. "I'm glad you like the smell, but it tastes even better than it looks I promise." Ayame said with a soft smile as she handed Naruto a plate of bacon, scrambled cheese eggs and two waffles covered in syrup.

Naruto gratefully accepted the plate and set it down in front of him, normally he would have just inhaled this delicious food. Though he now consciously noted that this was bad manners, so instead of inhaling his plate, he just ate his food like a normal person. "You're right Nee-chan, it is better tasting than it look's." Naruto said with a hum approval as he took a sip of his OJ. Ayame was a bit worried about Naruto, as it was a huge personality change from his usual outgoing persona.

Though maybe it would fade with time as Naruto was able to grieve and take the time to cope with his emotions. "Why thank you Naruto, but guess what I've also been working on since you were asleep." Ayame said with a grin on her face as she backed up to the counter to hide the the bento box she had made for him for his first class at the academy. Naruto's eyes flickered over to Ayame before he turned to face her and cocked his head to the side. "I saw it when I came in here, it was just sitting on the counter, so it wasn't hard to see." Naruto said as a matter-of-factly, causing Ayame to sigh in defeat as she realized it was her own fault that she wasn't able to surprise Naruto quite the way she wanted to. Though he sniffed the air as he tried to figure out what the content's of the box were. They smelled familiar but the smell of the breakfast was overpowering any nearby smell so he shrugged a bit as he'd find out later.

Ayame sighed in relief as he couldn't smell what she had made for him, she had planned on giving this to him before. Though now that they lived together, she could make food for him like this all the time. "Well do not open it until you get to your lunch break at the academy got it?" Ayame warned with a faux glare at the boy before her. She had spent a lot of her time making her equivalent of cup ramen, but Ichiraku style and taste, making it much better.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this but nodded in affirmation at her request, as he could be a bit more patient as he wouldn't need to eat for some time after breakfast. "Alright Nee-chan, but tomorrow can we go clothes shopping? Because this gaudy orange jumpsuit might get me killed, so I need something better." Naruto admitted, he liked the collar orange, but even he had to admit in his line of work, that bright color was not the smartest idea for a ninja.

This was Ayame's turn to be confused as she cocked her head to the side curiously as she gazed at her adopted brother. "What do you mean? I thought orange was your favorite color." Ayame mused lightly, causing Naruto to nod in confirmation at her statement before she continued. "Well that's fine, I'll ask dad if I can have tomorrow off to take you clothes shopping, considering of how hard I work, and it's you. Shouldn't be too hard to convince him to give me the day off or at least a fair part of the day off." She mused with a light smile on her face.

Naruto let a small smile grace his lips as he nodded as well, if needed he could probably convince Teuchi to let her go with his patented ' **Puppy dog eye's no Jutsu**.' So he stood up, and grabbed his kunai pouches, and attached them in their various places. "Well I've got to go nee-chan, but come here for a second." Naruto said with a small grin on his face as Ayame came closer with a curious look on her face. Naruto motioned for her to bend down to be at his height, Naruto hated to admit it, but too much ramen had stunted his growth as Ayame wasn't much older than he was but is significantly taller than he is. "I love you Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto said softly, a true smile coming across his face as Ayame blushed at his comment.

Ayame stood up slowly as she did her best imitation of a fish out of water as she tried to figure out how to reply to that sudden confession. So she decided to just go back with the first emotional reaction she felt after his words settled in. "I love you too otouto-kun, have a good day at the academy, you might want to get going before you're late." Ayame said with a light smile.

Naruto nodded at this before he ran off to the academy as fast as he could with a small smile on his face as he entered the gates right before the bell rang signaling the start of the school day. ' **Good, I'm not late for my first day of classes.** ' Naruto mused to himself as he sat down at the middle left corner, the one closest to the door for a tactical advantage when leaving. Though he didn't notice a familiar pair of pale of green eyes looking at him from her spot one row behind and to the right of him as he sat down excited for his first day of training as a ninja.

Sakura couldn't believe it, it was the boy from the other day that had used her lap as a pillow as she wasn't perfectly sure of it, but she was sure that Naruto was younger than her. ' **What's he doing here? Better yet does he remember the promise he made me yesterday?** ' Sakura thought curiously as she got up, ignoring the jibbering of her best friend Ino. She walked down one set of desk's and stood at the edge of Naruto's desk causing him to look at her.

Naruto raised a curious eyebrow at who it was that had come and interrupted his quiet reflection time before the class started. Then his eyes widened a bit as he realized who it was and he let a small smile grace his lips. "Hi Sakura-chan, so you're in my class? I'm glad to see that, are we still on for our time at the park?" Naruto asked curiously for a moment causing Sakura to gain an smile of her own at the fact that Naruto had remembered the promise they made yesterday.

Sakura nodded in reply to both of his questions, but she was curious about his first question. "Yeah, but what are you doing here? Aren't you too young to join us so soon?" Sakura asked honestly, it's not like she minded, though usually Konoha was pretty big sticklers on rules. Though the only way that he could have gotten past the age barrier is if he was friends with the Hokage himself, and while Naruto was full of surprises, she couldn't believe that yet.

Naruto nodded at her observation but looked as if he was going to elaborate on her observation. "Yes I am in fact too young though I am best friends with the Hokage himself, in fact I call him jiji, and he allows me to." Naruto said with a bit of a smug grin on his face as Sakura's jaw dropped in an incredulous expression, as she couldn't believe he was friends with the Hokage.

Sakura shook her head a bit to clear out any star struckness in her head before she narrowed her eyes lightly at Naruto. "Oh yeah? If that's so, then prove it! Before we go meet at the park later today, we're going to see the Hokage! Cha!" Sakura exclaimed lightly, mentally chastising herself for letting a bit of her inner personality come out in front of someone she hardly knew.

The rest of the class filled in as they had their little debate, and the whole class after a while was looking at them with amusement in their eyes.

Just on day one, Sakura and Naruto had made complete asses of themselves and class hadn't even started yet. "Alright you two love bird's sit down now!" Iruka exclaimed lightly as he came into the classroom using his right hand to hold the class roster book on his right shoulder before using **demon head no jutsu**![1]

Naruto's attention snapped forward as Sakura firmly rooted her bottom in the chair right next to Naruto as to not enrage Iruka further with a small 'eep.' Naruto's eye's followed Iruka around the classroom as he began the lesson plan for the day. ' **Ok time to pay attention, I don't need to be like Ms. Bookworm Haruno to my left...** ' Naruto sweatdropped as his self appointed friend Sakura was listening attentively to every word that Iruka said and note taking. ' **Though I need to be much better than Mr. Laze-a-Lot's over there.** ' Naruto mused in slight amusement as his gaze flickered over to Shikamaru who was fast asleep with his head on the desk.

Sakura follow Naruto's gaze up to where Shikamaru was sleeping in the back of the classroom, so she took a piece of her mechanical pencil's led. Taking a few moment's as she calculated exactly how she would have to throw it to hit his ear. ' **Got it!** ' She thought to herself as she flicked the piece of lead hit Shikamaru's ear, giving him an impromptu piercing.

Shikamaru sat up quickly as he felt what was like a bee sting on his ear as he looked around quickly scanning the area for a potential threat. Causing the class to look at him like he was crazy before beginning to laugh at his antics. ' **What the heck? Was that just a figment of my imagination?** ' Shikamaru mused lightly as he blushed in embarrassment before sitting back down and laying his head back down on the table to resume his sleep that was interrupted.

Naruto raised a curious eyebrow at this antic that Sakura had just done, it reminded him a lot of himself just a couple days ago. Where he put an itching power bomb in the anbu's laundry before giving chase to the anbu for several hours until he got tired. ' **Hokage's elite my ass... I lead them around town in broad daylight with this gaudy orange jumpsuit**.' Naruto mused lightly with a chuckle before he poked Sakura's side, causing her to 'eep!' in surprise.

Sakura glared lightly at Naruto before she donned a curious look on her face at Naruto as he never seemed to do anything without a good reason. ' ** _What is it Naruto-kun?_** ' Sakura asked, her voice just above a bare whisper as she leaned close to Naruto so only she could hear him.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as to why she got so close to just to listen to what he said, but he shrugged this off. ' ** _Well I was going clothes shopping tomorrow, as I can't be a ninja in this gaudy thing... I was wondering if you would like to go with me as well?_** ' Naruto asked curiously with a light smile, as smart as he was, it didn't dawn on him that it sounded like he was asking Sakura on a date. So when Sakura blushed, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she had thought he was asking her out on a date even though they'd just met.

Sakura's mind was going into overdrive as she over thought Naruto's words, as the inner personality she had was giving her a pep talk. ' ** _Cha! Go ahead and take Naruto up on that offer for a date! He's just like Sasuke, but better, all the silent brooding handsomeness, but actually shows emotion!_** ' Sakura nodded to herself as she garnered up the confidence to speak again after Naruto's question stopped her ability to speak for a moment. "Yeah that sounds like fun Naruto, but this isn't a date right?" She asked curiously as it dawned on Naruto why she was acting so weirdly just a few moments ago after his question.

Naruto blushed a bit at this before shaking his stupor before regaining his normal stoic look on his face. "No it's not a date, my sister Ayame is coming with us, though would you like it to be a date?" Naruto asked curiously, cocking his head to the side as a plethora of emotions crossed across Sakura's face.

The first emotion was defeat at the rejection of the idea of a date, annoyance that someone would be tagging along, then happiness when Naruto offered to make it a date just between the two of them before she nodded quickly at this.

Iruka had gone silent as Naruto and Sakura had stopped whispering and were having a full blown conversation just under normal speaking volume. So he stood there for a few moment's with a tick mark on his forehead as he waited impatiently. "Are you two love birds done? If so, I'd like to continue my class if you wouldn't mind..." Iruka stated with an icy tone to his voice. Sakura apologized for the both of them as Naruto just seemed disinterested in being apologetic about his actions.

So as if to make him repent regardless if he wanted to or not, Sakura forced Naruto's head down in an apologetic bow towards Iruka. ' **You dolt, even if you don't mean it, you should always apologize for your actions when they disrupt class!** ' Sakura whispered slightly annoyed but let Naruto up as Iruka turned back to teach the class like usual.

Naruto grumbled lightly as Sakura forced him to bow, running his hands through his hair to return it to the controlled mess it usually was. ' **But if there's no sincerity behind it, then why do it at all? I'd rather do it when there's actually meaning behind it.** ' Naruto whispered sagely, though Sakura didn't seem to hear him though he didn't repeat himself.

Sakura actually did hear him, but she couldn't think of a valid reply to his question, as he had a good point, she just thought it was always the polite thing to do. Though she just acted like she hadn't heard him and just continued listening to the lecture.

 ** _A few hours later..._**

The bell rang, signaling that it was time for lunch as

Naruto grabbed his bento box from where he had placed it next to him. Noticing that Sakura was taking out her box here, he kicked her chair leg lightly to get her attention, motioning his head towards the door. "Let's go eat on the roof, not many people should be there." Naruto said as he started walking towards the door, he just didn't want to be around many people right now, so the roof was perfectly secluded now.

Sakura couldn't fault his logic, so she packed up her lunch as she followed Naruto to the roof, where he was sitting comfortably in the shade of one of the tall tree's they had planted. "Wow, the best spot on the entire roof just for us to enjoy?" Sakura asked with a light smile on her face as she sat down next to Naruto and unwrapped her lunch for the second time.

Naruto hummed in acknowledgment that he heard her statement and opened his own bento box. What he found was a bowl of all the necessary ramen ingredients dehydrated in a bowl sitting in the middle of the box with a note on top of the food. The note read:

 ** _Dear otouto_** ~ It feels weird that I can actually call you that without it being just in the familial sense, but it actually meaning we are family now. It's been so long since me and dad have been trying to adopt you. Ever since the first day you came to our stand and told us you were an orphan, I instantly knew... That I just knew I instantly needed you as my brother, you were just so full of life, and exuberant. Bringing so much life to our little homely ramen stand, regardless of what anyone say's, never stop being yourself. Well enough rambling otouto, I love you, and see you when you get home! :P

Instructions for the proper way for ramen to be prepared: Add hot water (I've already done the rest for you, you can thank me later!)

As Naruto read the little note it brought a tear to his eye, never had anyone except for Shina told him that they loved him. So it was a bit surreal that someone actually loved him, but he had the foresight to bring enough hot water to fill the bowl.

Something told him that his sister had made him his favorite ramen: Pork ramen with extra pork, light on the veggies! "Itadakimasu" Naruto lightly said as thank's for his meal before taking his first bite of the food. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the tear that Naruto had shed while he was reading the note, she knew if it was something serious. Naruto would probably tell her about it, so she didn't say anything, and just enjoyed the comfortable silence that settled between them.

The only sound that came from the pair was the occasional slurp courtesy of Naruto, or the content hum as Sakura took a bite of her food, savoring her own cooking that wasn't a piece of charcoal.

 ** _A little while later..._**

They wrapped up eating their lunch, and packed up, just as the bell rang signalling their next class was about to start, so they headed to the sparring grounds. Their next class was the practical capabilities of a shinobi, not the history of the shinobi world. As they reached the sparring ground's, Iruka was already there with his sparring partner Mizuki standing off to the side.

Naruto noticed that Mizuki's eyes seemed to be not so subtly following him around as he walked. ' **Huh..? What's Teme's problem? Whatever, as long as he stays in his lane.** ' Naruto thought to himself as he disregarded the white haired man as he stood next to the rest of his class, only half listening to Iruka as he thought. ' **Well even compared to the other civilian's, I am outclassed at the moment. As all of them have probably at least had some training with their families before. So in order to circumvent that problem, I'll have to have a battle of attrition and hope they slip up for me to capitalize on.** ' Naruto thought to himself as Iruka neared the end of his spiel.

Afterwards he began breaking everyone up into pairs of sparring partner's based on who he thought would go best together and by gender.

Sakura looked over at Naruto who seemed to still be deep in thought, but she might have been book smarts. Though she knew enough that the best laid plan's go out the window once combat actually starts so right now her thoughts were different. ' **Crap... Now I really hate myself for dieting so much, my sparring partner is a well built girl... She's going to toss me around like a rag doll! Though maybe I can use her size against her since I am flexible**.' Sakura thought to herself as her inner self gave her a pep talk to help lift her spirits.

Iruka looked at the pair before him, they seemed to be going through plan a through z in their heads but as they reached their sparring spots they gained determined looks on their face. "Remember, you lose if you step out of bounds, cannot continue, forfeit, or the timer runs out. Hajime!" Iruka said as he lept up to the lower tier roof of the academy to watch the matches.

 ** _With Naruto..._**

Both boy's stood there with a one handed seal of camaraderie silently Naruto was the first to react out of his sparring partner's, he launched forward, not giving his opponent time to breathe. As he through out the war of attrition plan and just went into a heavy handed offense. ' **If I take him out before he get's the chance to counter attack it won't matter if I don't have any skills.** ' Naruto thought as he wildly swung in what resembled a right hook, but his opponent was ready for that. Catching Naruto's wild swing, and judo flipping him over his shoulder. "Whoa!" Naruto exclaimed as he was flipped over the kid's shoulder by someone who seemed to weigh less than he did in a matter of moments.

The kid was surprised when Naruto landed on his feet, expecting Naruto to be flat on his back in order for him to move into an armbar to make Naruto tap out. "Huh... For someone who fights like a drunken sailor, your reflexes are good." The kid off handedly commented as he threw a feint towards Naruto's face, causing Naruto to block it.

Though he realized too late it was a distraction as he saw a leg swiftly coming for his side. Naruto knew he couldn't block it in time even if his reflexes were fast, so he braced for impact, by clenching his side in order to lessen the blow to his ribs. ' **This kid is good, his parent's must have taught him how to defend himself from a young age**.' Naruto mused as his face lightly scrunched up from the blunt force of the kick against his ribs. Though he capitalized on this, and grabbed the boy's leg. Logic dictated that he would use his other leg in an attempt to free himself, so brought his other arm up to guard his head. The boy he was sparring against narrowed his eyes lightly at Naruto, as he seemed to be a lot better than he originally let on.

Though he seemed to only be fighting on instinct, not practiced skill so he was surprised when Naruto wrapped his arm around his other leg. "Oh crap! Not good!" The boy exclaimed as a signature foxish grin crossed Naruto's face.

Naruto nodded at the boy he had trapped in his clutches sentiments as with a good amount of force, he lifted the boy into the air. Before gracelessly slamming him back into the ground of the ring with a solid 'Thud!' causing the boy to lay prone as he tried to catch his breath. "Surrender, you're defeated." Naruto said with a firm tone to his voice as he had his knee lightly on the boy's chest with his fist cocked back in a punch that was aimed to knock the boy out should he resist.

The boy looked at Naruto with a curious look as he hadn't expected to be defeated by someone with no prior fighting experience before. "Just who are you really?" The boy mused out loud before he signaled to Iruka his defeat. Standing up with the help of Naruto as he got off of him, they both formed the seal of reconciliation and interlocked fingers for a moment. Showing there was no hard feelings after the sparr, as they both gave it their best and the best man won.

Naruto let one of his true smile's out as he stood off to the side, his eyes panning over the battlefield until his eyes locked onto what he was looking for. 'Go Sakura! Kick her butt!' Naruto thought to himself as he stepped under the shade of a tree to watch Sakura.

 ** _With Sakura..._**

Sakura was currently being circled by the other civilian girl who had a predatory look on her face, she was also sporting a split lip courtesy of the girl. The girl seemed to be quite literally out for blood as she had smacked Sakura's hand away when she formed the seal of camaraderie followed by a suckerpunch. ' **Huh... So she's the brute force type? She had caught me off guard with that suckerpunch earlier. So I gotta watch out for dirty tricks like that from now on.** ' Sakura thought as she licked the split lip and spit out the blood before settling back into her defensive stance.

The bigger girl cracked her knuckles, she loved knocking pretty girls down a peg or two, it made her feel better about herself in her tomboyish appearance. "Come on now, you can't tell me you're only a pretty face? Or is that it? You need to stop worrying about how good you look, cause that won't matter if an enemy smashes your face in like I plan on!" The bigger girl growled out as she televised her attack, allowing Sakura to easily step past her.

Sakura dodged to the right side of the big girl, kicking the back of her knee, causing all that leftover inertia to slam her knee into the ground. ' **Good... That will at least slow her down a little bit as she recovers from her knee nearly breaking.** ' Sakura thought to herself as she attempted an axe kick like her father had taught on the girls back her but she didn't have the muscle mass to put much force behind it, so it just slightly annoyed the bigger girl. " **Jus drein jus daun**.[2]" Sakura's eyebrows furrowed in confusion after what had just come over her, as she had spoken a language she had never heard before, though she shook it off.

The other girl slowly stood up, he stance unsteady as she shifted her weight to her other leg, as it was evident from her bleeding knee. That she had taken so substantial damage to her knee as she glared daggers at Sakura. "You'll pay for that through your pretty face!" The burly girl growled out in annoyance as she swung at Sakura yet again. Though this time her frustration and anger at the smaller girl caused her attack to easily be televised to her opponent. As she realized she had overextended herself. It was already too late with a quick hip check, Sakura had her arm, causing the girl's own force to cause her to flip over Sakura.

Sakura had been surprised how easy it was to Judo flip the girl, she figured since she was from the Akimichi clan or so it seemed. Her weight would make it near impossible for the much smaller female to flip her but she had anyway. "Give up now." Sakura said, narrowing her eyes as she knelt on the girl's chest in a reminiscent way of what Naruto had done.

The girl growled under her breath but sighed as she nodded, conceding her defeat to the girl she had previously thought was going to be an easy win. "You're not just a weakling, I respect that, but get in my way, and I'll crush you." The girl postured as smacked Sakura's hand out of the way as she had offered to help the girl get up, even though she was easily defeated.

Sakura rolled her eyes lightly at this before dusting off her sleeveless pink qi pao dress off as she looked around and saw the rest of the student's staring at her. "What?" Sakura asked curiously as she was clearly confused as to why she was the center of attention. The crowd suddenly burst into applause and cheers as everyone had been rooting for her, since she was the underdog.

There was even a few groans of annoyance as some lost a bet as they had bet on the bigger girl. "Seem's everyone was watching your match after theirs finished, as from what I could gather, you were facing the local neighborhood bully." Came a voice as the crowd parted to let out a Naruto with a small smile on his face as he lightly clapped as well.

Iruka landed next to the pair with a proud look on his face at Sakura, but an indifferent look towards Naruto. "Good going you guys, you won your matches, and did surprisingly well for two kid's with no formal training or any clan's to train them." Iruka doted lightly as he wrote down their grades in the notebook as he did for the other student's who had sparred.

Sakura hadn't missed the indifferent look Iruka gave him, but filed it away to ask Naruto at a later time, as now was not the time. "Thank you Iruka-sensei! She really messed up when she got mad at me. Everyone know's the more angry you get the more likely you are to mess up!" Sakura exclaimed lightly as she looked over to Naruto who was looking into the forest.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, as he sensed the malice coming from the woods, he couldn't see where it was coming from. He just knew it was aimed at him, he could only guess why it's because said person hated what he contained in his seal. "Alright, well since class is over, how about that playdate I promised you?" Naruto said with a faux smile to not to alert Sakura.

Iruka noted the look Naruto seemed to be giving Mizuki, as to the untrained eye, Mizuki was well hidden, but he could see his fellow teacher. Though since the malice was aimed at Naruto, he couldn't feel the malice coming from Mizuki or see his face. "You two are free to go today, you passed with flying colors. Also..." Iruka trailed, garnering the ten, and eleven year old's attentions respectively as they turned to him with curious expressions evident on their faces. "Have fun on your date guys!" Iruka teased before bolting off to another set of student's before Naruto and Sakura could cry out in annoyance at his statement at their expense.

Sakura blushed at the prospect of going on a date with Naruto, she didn't hate the idea, but she hardly knew the kid, so she wanted to get to know him first. "Iruka-sensei is a jerk for that comment, come on Naruto! I know the playground is nearly empty around now, so we have it all to ourselves!" Sakura exclaimed with a bright smile that made Naruto's heart skip a beat as it was directly aimed at him using her full beaming power's.

Naruto blushed a bit as well, though not as badly as Sakura, he was particularly happy the park would likely be empty. Because he didn't want Sakura to see the stare's other kids gave him because their parent's told them to stay away from the boy. "Good, that mean's I can show you my favorite hiding spot too!" Naruto exclaimed lightly, regaining a bit of his original happiness as they unofficially raced each other towards the park which was in the middle of town.

 ** _A little while later..._**

They made it to the park, it was about a twenty minute walk from the Academy, but the two blurr's had made it in a record time of five minutes. As they stumbled into the gate, both were breathing pretty hard, as they had run full force all the way here. "I won!" Sakura exclaimed with glee as she finally caught her breath, jumping up and down as she spun in a circle slowly.

Naruto rolled his eyes lightly as he finally caught his breath as well, standing upright again as he leaned on the fence that surrounded the playground. "Yes you did, what would you like as your reward my queen?" Naruto jokingly asked as he peformed a mock bow, just barely missing the evil grin Sakura had on her face at the joking name Naruto had just given her.

Sakura thought about it for the moment of all the prospective things she could get Naruto to do with this plan before nodding as she decided. "Queen huh? That has a nice ring to it! I'm your queen for the day! Within reason you must listen to whatever I say got it?" Sakura asked with a light playful glare at Naruto which he gladly returned before silently nodding at her request.

Naruto couldn't help but give her what she wanted, as she was sensible person, so he knew she wouldn't ask for anything stupid. "Alright my queen, what is your first order of buisness?" Naruto asked curiously as they started walking towards the swingset together.

Sakura put a hand under her chin, her pointer finger and ring finger on her chin as she contemplated her first order. She didn't think Naruto would go along with her request, but she would capitalize on this as much as she could for the day. "Push me on the swing my loyal subject." Sakura said with a grin on her face as Naruto chuckled and nodded at this request.

Naruto got behind her on the swing as she sat down and began to pump herself lightly as Naruto pushed on her lower back to make her go faster and higher. "Yes my leige, your wish is my command." Naruto said with a grin jokingly as he pushed her higher and higher with each push on the lower part of her back as Sakura let out a content sound as he pushed.

Sakura was just enjoying the company of Naruto and how he was obeying her order's and was playing with her. "You have pleased me my loyal subject, continue to do so and I might have a special reward for you." She offhandedly commented, glad that Naruto couldn't see her face as she was blushing at the idea that she had in mind for his reward for being obedient. Naruto was curious as to what this could be, but he was learning to gain more patience as he went along.

So he decided to play nice with Sakura, and listen to whatever whim she had, within reason as he really enjoyed her company too. "Why thank you my queen, you're beyond generous, and I shally humbly accept any gift you should deem fit." Naruto said with a grin on his face as he stepped away from Sakura to his own swing as she reached a good height.

Sakura smiled lightly at this as Naruto joined her in his own swing, pumping quickly enough to catch up with her in term's of height and speed. "Two little monkey's, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Sakura lightly exclaimed with a grin on her face at Naruto's blush.

Naruto rolled his eyes as a soft blush crossed his face and he grinned lightly as he picked up on her teasing kids rhyme she was trying to do. "First come's love! Then comes marrige!" Naruto continued on as Sakura was caught off guard by the continuation. Though they continued the next line in sync with each other. "Then come's the baby in the baby carriage!" They exclaimed together at the same time before bursting into giggle's of happiness at their little moment.

Sakura was now in tear's as she lept from her swing, and rolled into a standing stance as she stood up with a flourish, her arms spread out in a sort of y shape. "Tada! The crowd goes wild for Sakura Haruno, as she perfectly execute's a ten point flip!" Sakura exclaimed to a crowd that wasn't actually there before turning back to Naruto, who landed a few inche's away from her.

Naruto's brain stopped for a moment at the close proximity he had to Sakura, he naturally inched closer as his heart beat started quickening as he did. ' **What am I doing!? I should stop before she hate's me for what I am doing!** ' Naruto thought frantically to himself, but as he got closer, he noticed that Sakura wasn't backing away. In fact she seemed to be moving closer as well, he knew that she wanted this as much as he did when she closed her eyes.

Sakura's brain had also stopped all higher function at Naruto's close proximity, she wasn't against this, but it happened faster than she had expected. Though before she realized it, she had closed her eyes in anticipation for the kiss. ' **I should probably stop this, but at the same time I don't want to...** ' Sakura thought to herself as inner Sakura was cheering her on as well in her endevours. ' ** _Cha! That's it Sakura! Go get what you want, screw whatever our mom said about Naruto!_** ' Her innerself cheered as all her inner thought's disappeared, even inner Sakura was nowhere to be found as Sakura's lips finally touched Naruto's in a small fire that formed in her, making her feel like she could do anything she set her mind to.

Naruto's brain finally started firing on all cylinder's again as he took a step back away from Sakura. "I'm not going to make an excuse for that, but let me say, I really enjoyed that, and if possible. I would like to see where it goes in the future." Naruto said with a small, but true smile that graced his lip's as Sakura's brain started firing on all cylinder's again. Naruto bit his bottom lip a bit in nervousness as he waited and tried to anticipate what she would reply with.

Sakura blushed a bit as she fully understood what she said, placing her hand's behind her back, she interlaced her fingers with her palm's facing outwards as small smile that graced her lips. "I'd like that honestly, but for now, I still have a small crush on Sasuke..." She admitted honestly, as he had been the center of her affection for a little while. Though after seeing Naruto's forlorn look on his face, she decided to quickly save face with the poor boy. "But..." She trailed in a slight sing song tone to her voice, causing Naruto to look back up at her. "Since he's an emo duckboy, and won't even give me the time of day. It probably wouldn't be hard to replace him." She said with a giggle, giving Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek before dissapearing in a burst of speed to the treeline's as she headed home, leaving Naruto with a new goal along with graduating from the academy, to replace duckbill and become Sakura's boyfriend.

Naruto rubbed his cheek lightly as the phantom feeling of Sakura's lip's was still there for a few small moment's after she left. With a look of determination on his face, he decided to walk home rather than run, as even the villager's couldn't bring him down at this point. ' **Alright! Starting tomorrow I will show her that I'm much better than Sasuke!** ' Naruto exclaimed to himself as he pumped his fist in the air for a moment before exiting the park towards his apartment.

 ** _Authors Notes:_** Hardly anyone ever depicts the naruto BTS (Before time skip) ever depicts them as they are. kids, they automatically make them into hardene fighters/ killers. So I wanted to take a lighter approach to this as well. Though as always guys that's another chapter finito, so how did you like it? As your input on chapter's really give me motivation to continue on. So if you'd like to see more of this series, leave a review, please log into an account to leave a review. That way I can get back to you, as it's really troublesome to copy and paste guest reviews in the somewhat small chance that the same guest reviewer will see me get back to them. So please take a little extra time to log in to leave a comment, it make's my life a lot easier, and that easier may just help me make another chapter.

 ** _Translations or Elaborations_** :

 ** _demon head no jutsu_**!: When Iruka get's really upset or annoyed, he seem's to make his head grow three sizes and magnify his voice x5.

 ** _Jus drein jus daun:_** I'd honestly be surprised if anyone got this quote, it's a lesser known series that I love. Either way it mean's: Blood must have blood from the Series "The 100."


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